When I was younger I loved bike riding, or for confusion sake I should say I loved bicycling, not mountain biking, but road biking. I road in several 100 mile plus rides a year and I could be found with any free time I had riding my bike. When I lived in Big Bear I loved to ride there, lots of hills which to me meant, what goes up GETS to come down! I first started riding in Jr high, just for fun, and it was fun. I just enjoyed riding. Well I stopped riding about 15 years ago as life had a way of getting in the way of just about everything. So now at 52 years old I decided to get back into it. I have been riding for several months, lost about 25 lbs and still losing. I started at 5 to 6 miles at a time a few days a week. They were long hard miles. Now I am doing about 4.12 minute miles and enjoying every bit of my 15 mile rides. I know from riding religiously that your muscles remember; I know what my body needs and what it can and cannot do. I feel like I never stopped riding.

So now I need to see if I really still have it. At 52 this is a personal challenge for me. Sunday morning I am leaving my house and riding to the New Port Beach Pier. Riverside through Corona to Green River to the Santa Ana River Trail Bike Path. I did this ride a million times when I was younger. Started at Weir Canyon though and did a round trip, about 64 miles with detours. This time I am going one way, 50 miles from my house to the Pier.

Feel free to pop in and ride a ways with me, or meet me at the Pier. Oh and bring beer!

I plan on having a fun ride!

Most people ride to go from point A to point B -
I go from point A to point B so I can Ride!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++N= 2011 Diamondback Outlook
+1= 26" Shimano Folding Bicycle Mountain Bike

I have not! I have ridden up Hacienda from Colima but really, it's not the bike friendliest route out there and it's heavily driven. I might have to try again with a detour through Ardsheal. Avocado crest is apparently another one I need to hit near me.

I never ride Hacienda anymore because of the traffic. Silly Strava has the Ardsheal climb starting at West Rd. The real climb begins at Ardsheal and Encanada. I't about .75 mile and 400ft of climb.

Another good one is Saleroso in Rowland Hts. Continue on Colima past the mall. Take a right on Albatross and the first right is Saleroso. Strava says its a mile and 238ft, but your legs will tell you different.

LOL, I usually head all the way out to Brea Cutover and go up that thing but with all things, familiarity breeds contempt. The full length of Colima is a nice hill... not too steep but plenty long. (2.3 miles, 500 ft). Brea cutover is 1.2 miles, 347 feet. Turnbull is 2.3 miles, 650 feet. Definitely some decent hills around here, and for shame, they kept me off my bike for years after I moved here from the flatlands down by the beach.

Rat Beach Bike Tour on Saturday. A 62 mile ramble through the South Bay with some Palos Verdes climbing thrown in for fun.

I did that last year (I think it was last year - whatever the first year was). It was a fun ride until I had to climb Hawthorne in 100+ weather... I got delirious and nauseated and really dehydrated. Next time if I do the ride, I will just stay on PV Drive through Lanada Bay towards Malaga Cove; don't ever need to do Hawthorne in the heat again! Lunch after was cool though...

Mountain biking this weekend... leading a tour out Trabuco Creek to Holy Jim on Saturday for IRC and then doing Chino Hills on Sunday. After all the recents deaths on the road, I am sortof scared away from road riding....

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Private docent led mountain bike rides through Limestone Canyon. Go to letsgooutside.org and register today! Also available: hikes, equestrian rides and family events as well as trail maintenance and science study.

The Rat Ride no longer goes up Hawthorne. Too many complaints. It heads north to Westchester, loops back then comes up PVDrive East from the north side - about a 3 mile slog - to Miraleste, drops down into San Pedro, then comes back up 25th to PVDrive South and around to Redondo.

Ever since the price of fuel has come down, the cars are just too thick. That and the smoke from all the forest fires has me waving the white flag and opening the liqueur cabinet.

You keep it in a cabinet? Pfft, just leave bottles all over the kitchen counter, much easier to navigate & find what you want.

Jan - I go past Encanto park on SGRT and then peel off on Sierra Madre. It's not really marked as a bike path but the only other time I did it there was very little traffic. Here's my route to the base of GMR.

I'm in Las Vegas this weekend for the Interbike convention and expo. As a last minute thing I signed up for the shorter route (75 miles) of the Las Vegas Grand Fondo. That took place on Saturday starting at 5 AM. As an added attraction Miguel Indurian was to appear but I didn't see him and at the finish line there was a tent canopy with his name but no show.

There were 2,400 riders of which 500 where from the Lymphomia/Leukemia Team In Training group. This must have been their annual biggie. There were riders with jerseys that said Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Montana, Florida, etc.

The weather to me was hot but at 5 AM it was still in the mid 70's. Starting was done in sections of 450 riders with a 5 minute wait between each. This was because we rode straight up north on Las Vegas Blvd through the Las Vegas Strip. The police had to hold up traffic and they needed the 5 minutes to let the cars cross. Remember, the Strip is a place that doesn't stop. I got there around 4:45 and it was already crowded. I ended up as part of the final group to roll out.

The longer version of the Grand Fondo was the 122 mile route which took them through Hoover Dam and to Red Rock Canyon. My ride, the 75 took me through Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.

There was a bike accident just before Hoover Dam. A rider guy went down but I never knew the details. We all had to wait till the ambulance came.